Partners in Crime
by IrishDipstick
Summary: Taylor finds a new friend. Warning may contain spanking of a minor.
1. Chapter 1

Taylor was not looking forward to today's field trip for a number of reasons, the least of which would be the mind numbing boredom. They'd been put into groups of four, with one parent per group. Somehow Taylor had found herself in a group with Emma, who had only moved from New York and had barely spoken two words to her in the time she'd been here, and Ashley and Hannah. The same Ashley and Hannah with whom Taylor had almost come to blows with on a number of occasions. Then just to top off the perfect day, her dad had actually volunteered to help out. Taylor had tried to convince him that he'd be better off at work, but he hadn't bought it. Sometimes life really sucked.

Ashley had claimed the front passenger seat of the car, and babbled incessantly to Gibbs as he drove. Even a sneaky kick to the back of her seat hadn't been enough to shut her up, so Taylor, fed up listening to her, pulled out her ipod and turned up the volume. Emma did the same.

*******

Their group was the last in the long procession trailing past the exhibits. Taylor hung back with Emma. Patricia was making her way along, stopping at every group before moving on to the next. Unfortunately she spotted Taylor and Emma complete with earphones and made a beeline for them, hand held out.

Realising quickly she was going to lose her ipod, Taylor switched it off, wrapped the earphones around it and stuffed it into her pocket.

Patricia didn't lower her hand. "You'll get it back later."

"No way. It's mine." Beside her Emma was following Taylor's lead and slipped her own into her pocket.

"We went over the rules yesterday. No mp3 players."

"I forgot I had it on!"

"Problem?" Gibbs, complete with his own personal fan club of Hannah and Ashley had made their way back to see what the hold up was.

"No." Taylor glared at Patricia as she handed her the ipod. Then stalked past her to the next display.

"Nice try."

Taylor looked round to find Emma leaning against the rail beside her. "Didn't work though. Now we'll have to listen to those two all day." She nodded towards Hannah and Ashley.

"They really love themselves don't they." Emma performed a perfect imitation of Ashley.

Taylor grinned. "Yeah, but at least they're keeping my dad busy."

"What, don't tell me you're not excited to be here! Improve your mind and all.""Yeah, right!" She watched as Hannah and Ashley passed them again, her dad trying hard to keep up. He didn't even glance back before disappearing round a corner.

Taylor made a move to follow, but Emma stopped her.

"It wouldn't be hard to get lost in here would it?" Emma stated innocently.

"But…"

"He'll think you're up ahead." Emma started walking back towards the main entrance. "You comin' or not?"

Taking one last look over her shoulder Taylor ran to catch up with Emma. "So where are we going?"

"Gotta be something around here worth doing." Emma shrugged as they stepped out into the sunlight.

*******

Emma had been right, they hadn't been missed, that was until all the groups were led into a lecture theatre for a talk given by some of the museum staff. Gibbs scanned the rows of kids for his daughter, then for Emma. Neither one was there. Thinking they were probably dragging their heels at the last few exhibits he let Patricia know what was going on, before retracing the route they'd taken. As he forced his way through waves of pupils from other schools he realised it wasn't going to be as easy as he'd thought. By the time he'd made his way all the way back to the main entrance he was not a happy man. He had even checked the canteen. There was no sign of either of them. Standing just outside the doors he called Patricia, just to make sure they hadn't shown up while he'd been looking for them. They hadn't. Either they were somewhere in the building where they weren't supposed to be, or they had left the museum completely, and they had no reason to do that. Clipping his cell back onto his belt he took a deep calming breath before asking the woman at the reception desk if it was possible to have the two missing students paged over the tannoy system. She was very helpful, but four announcements and forty minutes later there was still no sign of Taylor or Emma. Now he was starting to worry. There was absolutely no reason why they should have left, not of their own accord anyway. Swallowing down the panic that was starting to bubble up, he went in search of the security office.

*******

The arcade they found was definitely more interesting than the museum, and they were pretty evenly matched when it came to the games. They worked their way steadily through their lunch money, only abandoning the machines when then they both had empty pockets.

"So where to now?" Taylor wasn't willing to go back just yet.

"How about some shopping?" Emma eyed up a nearby grocery store.

"We're broke." Taylor reminded her.

"Don't need any money." When Taylor looked at her suspiciously she added, "No we're not gonna steal anything, just have a little fun. Come on, I'll show you."

Taylor watched as Emma picked up a bottle of shampoo from one of the shelves before following a bald guy along one of the aisles. The second he turned his attention away from his shopping cart Emma dropped the bottle in along with his groceries.

"See, it's easy, and he probably won't even notice until he's home. Your turn."

*******

His badge was very effective when Gibbs asked to see the security footage of the main entrance. He scanned the video carefully as the guard rewound the morning's recording.

"Stop. Play it from there." Noting the time on the bottom of the screen he watched his daughter and her partner in crime make a break for freedom. They'd been gone for hours. Although his first reaction was to go looking for them, Gibbs was well aware that they could be anywhere by now, so assuming they were going to sneak back at some point he decided to rejoin the class and wait them out.


	2. Chapter 2

********* I do not own NCIS *********

**Chapter 2**

Emma and Taylor didn't have a problem finding their class when they slipped back into the museum. They were all in the entrance foyer, still in their little groups.

"Perfect timing." Emma whispered.

Taylor wasn't so sure. As more and more heads turned in their direction, the noisy excited babble began to die down, until an eerie silence replaced the chatter.

"This doesn't look good!" Emma whispered.

Taylor barely registered the comment, she was busily scanning the crowd for her dad and Patricia. She spotted them standing together on the opposite side of the lobby, Ashley and Hannah at their side, smug grins on their faces. When her eyes met her fathers she took a couple of involuntary steps back. Oh they knew.

"Ahh…. Emma….."

"Yeah?" she whispered, eyes rooted to the scene in front of her.

"Run!" Taylor didn't hang around to see if Emma was following as she took off down a corridor. Realising they didn't have much of a head start, and wanting to disappear before her dad rounded the corner, she veered off into the ladies bathroom. The door swung closed behind them. Breathing hard they slid down the tiled wall, sat on the floor and listened to the footsteps pass the door and fade away down the hall.

Emma started to giggle. Taylor looked at her new friend as if she'd gone crazy.

"Do you think they missed us?" Emma asked.

When Taylor saw the expression on Emma's face, she couldn't help herself, it was kinda funny. Both girls were sitting in a giggling heap when the door swung open.

"Let's go." Gibbs didn't raise his voice, but Taylor knew from the look he gave, that he was just daring her to defy him. Suddenly their situation didn't seem quite so funny. Without saying anything else, he held the door open for them, before escorting them back to the foyer.

Thankfully the other groups were gone, and only Patricia, Ashley and Hannah remained. Taylor almost protested when her father announced she was going home with Patricia, but didn't want to risk setting him off in front of Ashley and Hannah. They would just love that. She knew exactly what her dad was doing. He was going for the divide and conquer technique. Now they wouldn't have the opportunity to get their stories straight. Emma shot her a look of sympathy before following after Gibbs, leaving Taylor with a very unimpressed Patricia.

"Suppose we're in trouble, huh?" Taylor glanced up at Patricia trying to gauge how angry she was.

"Suppose you are." With that, she took a firm hold of Taylor's arm and led her to the car.

The ride home was quiet, and Taylor wasn't brave enough to ask for her ipod back. Instead she had to content herself with just staring out at the rush hour traffic, wondering what Emma was gonna say. That and hope that Patricia wouldn't be quite so mad at her by the time they got home.

When they arrived back at the house Taylor made a beeline for the kitchen. She may be in trouble but she was hungry, they'd skipped lunch. She was just sitting down to eat her peanut butter sandwich when Patricia came in and sat down opposite her.

Taylor took a bite before looking over at her.

"Are you gonna start yelling now?"

"Do you think I should?"

"No." She kept eating.

"Why not?"

"That place is really easy to get lost in."

"Is that what happened?"

Taylor wasn't feeling confident enough to jump right in with a lie, so she didn't answer.

"Where were you all day?"

"Does it matter?"

"Just answer the question Taylor." Gibbs strode in through the kitchen and filled up the coffee maker, before going to stand behind Patricia. "and yes it matters!"

"Didn't you ask Emma?"

"Yes."

"So why are you askin' me then?"

"Don't test me Taylor." he growled, " I want the truth now, and trying to avoid answering will be treated exactly the same as lying. Do you understand me?"

Unfortunately she did. She nodded.

"Now, last chance. Where did you go today?"

"We just wandered about, played a few games. When we ran out of money we checked out some of the stores. That's about it.

"What type of games?"

"Arcade." Taylor glanced at the clock on the wall. "I'm supposed to be meetin' Jason soon."

"The only place you're going tonight is over my knee and then bed."

"No!" Taylor jumped to her feet, pushing her chair back.

"What do you mean no? It might have been a field trip, but it's just the same as cutting school, and you know you're not allowed anywhere near an arcade."

"I know that, but….." She couldn't think of anything.

She watched as her dad pulled a chair away from the table, then crooked his finger at her.

"I don't wanna."

He raised an eyebrow, and waited, but Taylor knew he wasn't gonna wait for much longer. Chewing on her bottom lip, she inched her way around the table towards him, hoping desperately for a brainwave. It didn't happen, but then it never did. When she was finally standing in front of him, Gibbs sat down .

"You know what to do."

Even as Taylor unbuttoned her pants she was still trying to figure a way out.

"It's not too late for you to change your mind you know. I won't do it again."

"You'd better not!" He warned as he pulled her over his knee.

Taylor didn't even get the chance to brace herself before the first spank landed. It stung like hell. She began wriggling furiously in an attempt to avoid the next one, but it didn't make any difference, her father just trapped her free arm, held her tighter and picked up the pace. It wasn't long before she was crying hard, and by the time he'd decided she had had enough Taylor wasn't entirely sure he hadn't used his belt. Gibbs helped her to her feet, and she leant against him, crying into his shirt. He held her there until she was calm enough for the tears to stop, then waited for her to fix her pants.

"I think you owe someone an apology, don't you?"

Taylor nodded, and wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve before going to find Patricia. She'd retreated to the living room, and Taylor walked over to where she was sitting on the couch.

"I'm sorry." She couldn't stop herself snaking a hand round to the seat of her pants, to try and relieve the sting a little.

"Sorry enough to come back to the museum with me on Saturday? It's the only way you'll complete your assignment."

When Taylor nodded, Patricia stood up and hugged her. "That's okay then."

"Do I really have to go to bed now?"

Gibbs appeared in the doorway. "Uh huh. Go on, I'll be up in ten minutes to check on you."

As Taylor lay in bed, she ran through the day's events in her head. It had been fun. Just not enough fun to make up for the fire in her backside. As she drifted off to sleep she wondered if the bald guy had noticed his shampoo yet, maybe they should try hair dye the next time.


	3. Chapter 3

******* I do not own NCIS *******

**Chapter 3**

Emma was waiting outside the school on Wednesday morning. "So did you get into trouble"

Taylor nodded "Yeah. You?"

"Oh yeah, your dad didn't exactly help , he made sure my mom knew how dangerous it was to be running around the city on our own. By the time he was done you'd of thought he was bringing me home in a body bag"

"Sorry. He does kinda over react."

"Did he ground you?"

Taylor shook her head, "No I got a spankin' and I have to go back to the museum on Saturday with Patricia."

"Ouch. Who's Patricia?"

"Miss Wilson. Okay, go ahead and laugh, she's my dad's girlfriend." Taylor waited for Emma's reaction.

"Nothing wrong with that, I wondered why she was takin' you home."

"What did your mom do then?" She was relieved Emma wasn't going to give her a hard time about Patricia."

I gotta couple of swats, but I was supposed to be goin' back to New York with them, not this weekend, but the next. Now I have to stay here with my brother instead."

"Unlucky."

"Not really, he's throwing a party when mom and dad aren't around." Emma grinned. "That's gonna be so much better. You should see if your dad would let you sleep over."

"After yesterday I can't see that happening. F*** here's Ashley coming over, bet she has a lot to say!"

"Hey Taylor, you get in trouble with your daddy? He was awful mad yesterday, what'd he do? Spank your little butt?" Ashley was in her element, but not dumb enough to stick around for any retaliation. She flounced on inside leaving an angry, blushing Taylor.

"Why'd you let her get away with that?" Emma was still watching Ashley walk away.

"Because they'd probably kick me out of here, then my dad would either kill me or send me to military school." She shook her head. "Not worth the risk."

The bell rang, and the two of them headed inside. Emma stopped Taylor just outside the classroom, sneaky grin on her face. "You know, just because you can't do anything, doesn't mean I can't." When Taylor smiled she added. "Start thinking."

Taylor spent the morning running through different methods of revenge in her head. It was difficult to choose, but she eventually decided upon something simple but effective. She couldn't wait. This was gonna be good.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Taylor was standing with Emma and Jason just outside the main school building.

Both Emma and Jason nodded.

"Will you relax! You're gonna be home free. Technically you didn't give me the idea. No one is gonna figure out you told Jason what to do, and he told me. That way you won't be lying if someone asks if you gave me the idea. I like that, it's a smart move. Now all you have to do is be a little late for class. We'll take care of the rest."

Jason pulled out his cell. "You'd better head in, I'll call as soon as Ashley's on her way."

Turning back to Taylor he gently pushed her in the direction of the car park. "Go, think happy thoughts. I'll catch up with you at lunch. Just don't go to class before the bell!"

A slightly nervous Taylor started walking, and when the bell rang she waited for a few minutes before going inside. Now she wasn't quite so worried. There was nothing she could do now anyway, it should be done and dusted.

Patricia raised an eyebrow when Taylor slipped quietly into the classroom, but didn't ask where she'd been. Trying not to look guilty Taylor uttered a whispered "sorry" as she took her seat and tried to find the right book.

It was even harder than normal to concentrate on the morning's lessons. Taylor could only wonder if it was working, and from her seat at the front she couldn't see either Ashley or Emma. She was really going to have to ask Patricia for her old desk back. About half an hour into the class Emma asked to be excused. As she walked past, both on her way out and back, she ignored Taylor completely, giving no indication that something was going on. Oh she's good! Taylor thought, assuming she was getting rid of the evidence. This just might work out after all. Roll on recess.

When the bell stopped ringing the noise was immediately replaced by a scream from the middle of the room. The normal rush of students to the door was abruptly halted, as everyone, including Taylor and Emma turned to look at the source of distress.

"I'm stuck! I can't get up!" Ashley screeched before bursting into tears.

Patricia rushed over to her. "What do you mean you can't get up?"

Before Ashley had the chance to reply however she turned to the confused audience. "Everyone out!" When they didn't move she raised her voice, "NOW!" That got them moving. As Taylor filed out with the others she glanced back at Ashley and wondered just how much superglue Emma had used.

Taylor kept her distance from Emma throughout the break, choosing instead to track Jason down to let him know what had happened. He seemed pretty pleased that it had worked, Ashley had landed him in trouble more than once. Today was payback.

When recess was over they weren't allowed back into the classroom, instead they were all herded into the library, where they stayed until Patricia came to fetch them. Then they were all lined up in the hall and called into the classroom one by one. Taylor stood nervously behind Hannah waiting for her turn. It didn't take long for information to pass along the row of kids. Their bags were being searched.

When Hannah was summoned Taylor took a step closer to the door. Nervously moving from one foot to the other, psyching herself up for the questions. She had almost decided to make a quick trip to the bathroom when she heard Hannah shouting through the closed door.

"I don't know how that got there! It's not mine! I didn't do it!"

The door opened and Hannah emerged, closely followed by the principal, tears running down her cheeks. As Taylor watched the scene in astonishment she heard Emma whisper into her ear. "Two birds, one stone!"


	4. Chapter 4

******* I do not own NCIS *******

_Thanks for all your reviews, they always help. _:-)

**Chapter 4**

Neither Ashley or Hannah returned after lunch and Patricia wasn't giving anything away to the class. Taylor and Emma played it cool for the remainder of the day and Taylor didn't even walk home with Jason, just to avoid any suspicion. Instead she rode home with Patricia.

"What was wrong with Ashley?" Taylor had to ask, thinking it would look pretty weird if she didn't.

"Someone glued her to the chair." Patricia kept her eyes on the road.

"Wow! Who did it?"

"Hannah."

"Hannah? Why would she do that? I thought they were friends."

"No idea."

Patricia changed the subject as they pulled into the drive. "So what would you like for dinner?"

"Pizza."

"You can't live on pizza. How about chilli for a change? You can help me make it."

"Okay, can we have pizza tomorrow?" Taylor followed Patricia into the kitchen.

The subject wasn't brought up again until the three of them were sitting down at dinner.

"How was school today?" Gibbs looked first at Taylor, then Patricia.

Taylor shrugged and kept eating, leaving Patricia to answer.

"Eventful. Ashley spent most of the morning super glued to her seat. She was in a real state by the time we got her off the chair. She lost a good bit of skin when she was struggling to get up."

Gibbs immediately turned to his daughter.

"Don't look at me, I didn't do it!" She protested.

He kept his eyes locked on hers, trying to decide if she was telling the truth.

"I didn't!"

"It's alright Jethro, Taylor didn't do it." Patricia placed a hand on his arm to get his attention.

"Are you sure?" It sounded way too much like one of Taylor's stunts, to be the work of someone else.

"Thanks dad!" She just loved the way he trusted her.

"Taylor didn't have the opportunity to do it and the glue was found in Hannah's bag."

"See!"

"He ignored Taylor's protest. "Wasn't that Hannah with Ashley at the museum? They seemed pretty tight."

Patricia nodded. "Hannah insists she didn't do it, and can't explain why the tube was in her bag. Ashley doesn't think she did it either."

"So what's going to happen?"

"Hannah's been suspended for two weeks."

Taylor stared at Patricia in disbelief. "Two weeks for sticking someone to a chair?"

"Ashley was hurt Taylor, she had to go to the hospital."

"Oh." The relief of being in the clear was quickly being replaced by guilt. She had suddenly lost her appetite. "I'm done. Can I go now?"

"Where are you going?" Gibbs didn't appear to notice the pile of food left on her plate.

"To see Jason."

He nodded. "Don't go far, and I want you back here by eight thirty."

Taylor grabbed her coat and went to break the bad news to Jason.

Both Hannah and Ashley were missing from class the following morning. Emma didn't seem overly concerned about the fallout from their prank, so Taylor figured there wasn't much point in feeling guilty. After all, it wasn't as if she'd put the glue on the seat. Emma was more interested in her brother's party, as was Jason when he showed up at lunch. He'd been able to convince his mom that he would be staying with a friend. The more the pair talked about the party, the more Taylor wanted to go. She wished it would be as easy for her, but she didn't think her dad would let her sleep over at Emma's, not after the incident at the museum, and their house was virtually a fortress at night. Still, it wouldn't hurt to test the ground a little. Maybe if she caught her dad in a good mood he might agree to her spending the night with Emma. Hopefully he should be happy tonight, after all it was Friday, and they were going to Abby's for dinner . That should be the perfect opportunity.

Taylor sat in the backseat of the car trying to build up enough courage to ask the vital question. She didn't manage it until they were almost at Abby's.

"Dad?

"Yeah?""Can I sleep over at Emma's?"

He glanced at her in the mirror.

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why not?" Taylor was trying hard not to whine, but it wasn't working.

"I want to make sure you're safe in bed at night, not off doing God knows what."

"Who says we'd go anywhere?"

"Taylor, you don't exactly have a good track record."

"So?"

"So, it's not happening. If you want a sleepover so bad ,then Emma can stay with you."

"That's not fair!"

"Yes it is. I've no doubt that if we didn't have an alarm system you'd still be sneaking out when you got the chance."

"You really think I couldn't get past the dumb alarm if I wanted to?" Taylor realised immediately that it might not have been the smartest thing to say.

Gibbs slammed on the brakes, propelling the three of them forwards against their seatbelts, and pulled up to the kerb. He turned round in his seat to face her. "You do, and I promise I'll make sure you can't sit down for a week. You can just get that idea out of your head right now, do you understand?"

Taylor glared at him.

"Answer me!"

Taylor remained silent until he reached down to unfasten his seatbelt. "Okay, I got it."

He gave her one more warning look before starting the car again, and driving the last few blocks to Abby's apartment.

Gibbs pulled his daughter to the side just outside the door. His voice was softer now. "Look I know you're disappointed, but don't spoil this for Abby, she's been looking forward to this for weeks."

Taylor didn't get the chance to answer before Abby flung the door open excitedly. "Gibbs, Patricia, Taylor, you're early! I mean not that that's bad! It's just I didn't think you'd be here yet!"

Using the interruption to her advantage, Taylor slipped into the apartment past Abby, leaving her dad and his warning in the hallway.


	5. Chapter 5

********* I do not own NCIS *********

_**Thanks for the reviews, and as for the question - will Taylor take the fall for the super glue incident - I have absolutely no idea!**_

**Chapter 5**

Taylor claimed a seat at the end of one of the couches, pulled out her psp, plugged in the headphones and turned up the volume. She was not in the mood for talking. From the corner of her eye Taylor could see Patricia follow Abby into the kitchen. Her dad sat on the sofa opposite. She felt him watching her, but didn't look up from the small screen, determined to ignore him. Even though Taylor was not surprised he'd said no, and it was entirely her own fault, it still made her angry. Between that and the guilt that kept bubbling up to the surface over what had happened to Hannah and Ashley this was the last place Taylor wanted to be. She just wanted to be on her own, but that wasn't going to happen. Trying to push the anger and guilt out of her head she concentrated hard on the game she was playing. Taylor didn't want to ruin Abby's night, but she didn't want to be a part of it either, and unless she wanted to go into complete meltdown mode, it was her only option.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Tim was the next to arrive, followed closely by Tony and Ziva, then Ducky. Tony sat down beside Taylor, nudging her gently to get her attention. He didn't get it for long though, she just sent him a look that clearly translated into 'leave me the hell alone' before turning away again.

When Taylor noticed everyone making their way over to the table at the other side of the room she stayed where she was, trying to drag out the time she had left with the earphones to act as a buffer. She had less time than she'd thought, as the earphones were removed from behind. Sighing, she stood up expecting to find her dad, instead it was Patricia standing there, hand held out for the psp. Yeah that's really gonna happen Taylor thought as she quickly stuffed the console into her pocket and went to join the others at the table.

Stuck between Tim and Patricia, Taylor picked at the food on her plate. When she figured she'd eaten enough not to hurt Abby's feelings she gave up and set her knife and fork quietly onto the plate. It was easy to ignore the chatter, her brain was working at full speed. There had to be some way to get past that damn security system. She was goin' to that party no matter what she had to do.

Taylor was brought back to reality when Patricia gave her a nudge with her elbow.

"What?" She looked up at her annoyed, positive she'd almost come up with an answer before being interrupted.

"Abby asked you a question."

She turned to Abby who was sitting across the table beside her dad. "What?"

"How was your trip to the museum?"

"Best field trip ever. Liked it so much I'm goin' back tomorrow!" Taylor replied voice laced with sarcasm. As soon as she said it she wished she could take it back.

Abby looked at her, confused by her reaction, her dad glared at her obviously not impressed by her tone, but it was Patricia who took a hold of her arm, pulled her up from her seat and marched her into the kitchen.

Taylor scowled at Patricia. "What'd you do that for? I only answered her question!"

"Abby's been trying to talk to you all night, but all you've done is ignore her. Then when you finally do say something you did it in a way that hurt her feelings. Abby has no idea what happened at the museum, and she certainly didn't ask just to annoy you. You need to go right back out there and apologise."

Taylor folded her arms and stared right up at Patricia. "I will. Just as soon as I'm done waitin'."

"For what?" She had no idea what Taylor was talking about.

"Hell to freeze over."

Patricia didn't hesitate before reacting, and the two hard smacks to her backside came as quite a surprise to Taylor. Before she had figured out what was going on Taylor was standing in the corner beside the bin.

"You can just stay there until you're willing to behave."

"Fine. Be more fun out here anyway!"

That earned her another swat.

"You need to snap out of it Taylor. Believe me you don't want your dad to get a hold of you before you apologise to Abby. If you have any sense of self preservation you'll do it before he decides to make you."

This time Taylor kept her mouth shut, and she heard the door open and close behind her as Patricia left her to think it over.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Taylor knew Patricia was right, but her pride wouldn't allow her to go back out just yet. She retrieved the psp from her pocket and sat down on the bin. She would wait ten minutes, and then go back in. Half way through the level the screen went black as the battery died. Nothing was working out today, she hadn't thought to bring the charger. Then it hit her. No power no game. No power no alarm. Now she knew exactly what she had to do to get out of the house. She wasn't gonna have to miss out on the party after all. Trying hard to hide a grin Taylor headed back into the living room.

They were still at the table, and all heads turned in her direction as she slipped back into her seat.

"Sorry Abby, I didn't mean it to come out that way."

Abby nodded. "That's okay."

Patricia seemed pleased that she'd apologised to Abby and patted her on the hand. Her father on the other hand was eyeing her suspiciously, wondering why the hell she was suddenly looking so happy.


	6. Chapter 6

******* I do not own NCIS *******

**Chapter 6**

Taylor tossed and turned, but couldn't sleep. Now she'd worked out a way to get to Emma's party and didn't have to think about that any more, her conscience was really starting to bug her. Not about the fact she was going to sneak out, the only person who would end up regretting that would be herself if she was caught, but it was her fault Ashley ended up getting hurt. She checked her clock, it was almost one thirty. Sighing, Taylor threw back the covers, climbed out of bed, and headed downstairs. Maybe some TV would take her mind off it. She clicked through the channels and settled on an old black and white gangster movie. Muting the sound she curled up on the couch and slipped her thumb into her mouth.

Gibbs heard his daughter moving about, and followed her downstairs. Standing in the shadows he half expected her to head towards the control panel in the hall, but when she made herself comfortable in front of the TV instead, he waited for a few moments before joining her. Taylor didn't take her eyes off the screen, but did quickly remove her thumb.

"Can't sleep?"

She changed position, curling up again, only this time resting her head on his knee.

"Want to tell me what you're worried about?" He asked as he gently ran his fingers through her hair, massaging her head, then the back of her neck.

"I can't."

"Are you afraid of getting into trouble?"

Taylor thought for a moment before answering. "No." She closed her eyes as she began to relax, and just when her dad thought she had fallen asleep she spoke again.

"Did you ever do something you really wished you hadn't?"

"Yeah, everyone does."

"How are you supposed to make it better?"

"You can't always do that."

He waited to see if she was going to say anything else before continuing.

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Because it's not just me who would end up in trouble."

"Has this got something to do with Ashley?" Gibbs expected Taylor to tense up, but was surprised when she just sighed.

"Yeah."

"I thought Patricia said it couldn't have been you.""It wasn't, but it was my idea. I didn't think she'd get hurt or that Hannah would get the blame."

"So who did it?"

This time she did tense a little. "Can't tell you."

"This person isn't going to own up, even though Hannah's been suspended for something she didn't do?"

"Don't think so."

"So what do you think you should do?"

She closed her eyes again as she tried to think. "I don't know."

"Do you want me to talk to Patricia?"

"Suppose." Taylor sighed again. "I am sorry."

"You're also grounded." Gibbs knew who Taylor was trying to protect, and the way her saw it, the less time she spent with Emma the better. The two girls together were not a good combination.

"Okay."

"You ready to go back to bed now?"

"Not yet." Taylor reached up to where her dad's hand was resting on her head and guided it, until his arm was around her.

Gibbs wrapped his hand around hers as they both watched the movie in silence.

Her thumb found it's way back to her mouth as she finally fell asleep.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Taylor woke up in her own bed, but was a bit reluctant to go downstairs and face Patricia. She'd been mad at her yesterday, and was bound to be even angrier today. Reminding herself that Patricia had every right to be upset with her Taylor psyched herself up and went down to face the music.

Patricia and her dad were both sitting at the table in the kitchen. They'd spent a lot of time last night trying to decide what to do. Neither wanted to risk Taylor being expelled, so Patricia had agreed to let the principal know Hanna was innocent without implicating Taylor.

Taylor shuffled over to her, guilt written all over her face.

"Sorry." She kept her eyes fixed firmly on the floor.

"Are you?"

Taylor nodded, then risked a look to see how mad she was. Patricia didn't look angry, just disappointed. That was worse.

"Do you want me to go stand in the corner?" Maybe that would convince her that she was really sorry.

"No."

Taylor chewed on her bottom lip, and reconsidered the situation. "Do you wanna spank me? It might make you feel better."

Gibbs almost choked on his coffee.

Patricia's expression softened. "No, your dad's already grounded you, I think that's enough. It might have been your idea, but you didn't actually do it, and you did own up."

"It's a real pity I'm grounded, I won't be able to go to the museum with you today." Taylor tried to look disappointed.

"Nice try Taylor." Patricia smiled at her. "But I think your dad will make an exception in this case.

She turned away from Patricia and looked at her dad.

He nodded. "I wouldn't want you to miss out. I know how much you've been looking forward to it." Reaching out, he gently pulled her around the end of the table and onto his lap.

"Thanks dad. I really appreciate that." She leant her head against his chest.

"Hey, you never know, you just might like it this time."

Taylor looked up at him. "Did you like it?"

When her father didn't answer immediately, Taylor grinned at him. "You didn't, did you?"

"Not really." He admitted, trying to ignore the glare aimed at him from the other side of the table.

"Are you comin' with us?" Taylor asked hopefully.

"I've already been, remember?"

"But dad, it's like you said, you never know, you just might like it this time."

Patricia smiled smugly at him, as he realised he was going to have to go too.

He held up his hands, indicating surrender. "Okay, you've talked me into it." So much for spending the day with his feet up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The museum wasn't the most exciting place to be on a Saturday, but it was better than being stuck in the house. Taylor had a sneaking suspicion she wasn't the only one feigning interest in a lot of the exhibits just to keep Patricia happy. It had been quite funny when her dad had attempted to sneak off for coffee at one point, but Patricia stopped him short with a look of disapproval, and made him wait until lunchtime. At least for a while he'd know how she felt.

Taylor watched other kids making their way round in their little, and sometimes not so little family groups. On previous outings with her dad, or sometimes Abby, she had wondered what it would be like. This was as close as she'd ever been to that, and she kinda liked it. She was still mulling this over in her head as they drove home.

"You're very quiet back there, are you okay?" Gibbs glanced in the mirror to see what is daughter was doing.

"Uh huh. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Are you two gonna get married?"

He looked over at Patricia before answering with a question of his own. "Why do you ask that?"

Taylor shrugged. "Just wondering."

"Would you like it if we did?"

"Suppose."

"Well, if we decide that we want to get married, you'll be the first to know. How about that?"

"Okay." Taylor was happy enough with that, after all they hadn't said no.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Monday morning Emma was surprised to see Hannah, as well as Ashley back at school. Taylor didn't want her to find out she had confessed, so didn't fill her in on what had happened. She needn't have worried though, as soon as Emma figured out she was still in the clear, the conversation immediately switched to her brother's upcoming party. The way Emma was talking, it was easy to believe it was going to be the social event of the year. Now that Taylor had a way of getting there, she really hoped it was.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Friday night seemed to take forever to arrive, being grounded made the days really drag in. The last few hours however, as she waited for her dad and Patricia to go to bed, were definitely the longest. At around midnight Taylor decided it was now or never. She slipped out of her pyjamas and into her clothes before lifting her torch and creeping down the stairs and into the basement. Opening the fuse box she located the main power switch and pushed it all the way up. Leaving the torch where she'd be able to find it again when she got back Taylor made her way carefully through the kitchen and out the back door. The alarm did not go off, and, breathing a sigh of relief Taylor locked the door behind her and stashed the key. Piece of cake!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Pushing her way through rooms full of drunken teenagers, most of them at least eighteen or nineteen, Taylor had no idea which one was Emma's brother. It wasn't easy, but she eventually located Emma and Jason. They were sprawled out on Emma's bed. From the number of empty beer bottles lying on the floor she was surprised they were still awake. Taylor bounced onto the bed beside them, and Jason handed her a drink.

"So what'd I miss?"

"Not much, it's a bit crazy downstairs, that's why we're hiding up here."

"Isn't your brother gonna miss the beer?" Taylor checked out the pile of empties on the floor again.

"He doesn't care, as long as I help clean up tomorrow."

Thinking about the mess downstairs, Taylor wasn't sure it would be worth it, but then she wouldn't be sticking around that long anyway.

They just hung out in Emma's room until Jason decided he needed some fresh air, fast! As Taylor waited for Jason to finish throwing up beside the flower bed in the yard, she realised this was not going to be quite as much fun as she'd thought it would be. Emma and Jason were too drunk, and everyone else at the party just ignored her because she was so much younger than them. When Jason felt well enough to go back inside, Taylor helped him stagger back upstairs, where he promptly lay down on the bed beside an already passed out Emma and closed his eyes. Taking another few mouthfuls of her beer, Taylor set the still half full bottle on the windowsill, before calling it quits and leaving.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Once back in the house, Taylor crept quietly to the basement and switched the power back on, before negotiating both the stairs and her room in the dark. She let out a deep breath when she made it to the bed without tripping over anything. That was pretty much a miracle where her floor was concerned, then switched on her small lamp so she could find her pyjamas. Her eyes were drawn to the belt lying on the middle of the bed.

'Aw crap!' she thought. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck and Taylor knew her dad was standing right behind her.

"Would you believe me if I said I was sleep walking?"

"No. Would you believe me if I said you're not gonna like sitting down for the next week?"

"Probably." Taylor turned round and planted her backside safely on the bed.

"What exactly did you not understand when I warned you about sneaking out again?"

"It's your fault. I wouldn't of had to if you weren't so paranoid!"

"I'm paranoid?"

"Yeah! You always think I'm gonna do something dangerous or something I'm not supposed to!"

"That's because you usually do! Now where were you?"

"Out."

Reaching past her he picked up his belt. "If you don't want to explain, we'll just skip right to consequences.

Quick rethink. "Emma's."

"I thought her parents were going away this weekend?"

Taylor stared at him, confused. "How'd you know that?"

"Her mother told me when I took Emma home from the museum."

'Thanks for the heads up Emma!' Taylor thought, Emma was getting really good at landing her in trouble.

"So who was there?"

"Why don't you ask her mother?" Folding her arms defensively she glared up at him.

"Alright, I've heard enough for now. I'd quite like to get some sleep tonight. You can explain everything else, including why you smell of alcohol and cigarettes tomorrow. Up."

"I wasn't smoking!"

"UP!"

She shook her head as she stared at the belt. "Not if you're gonna hit me with that."

"You want to lose the pants?"

Taylor shook her head again.

"Then stand up!"

The adrenalin surged into her system. Taylor glanced towards the bathroom, but bolted for the bedroom door. She didn't even make it half way before her father had a hold of her sweatshirt, and was hauling her back to the bed. Reacting without thinking, Taylor stomped down hard on his bare foot with her sneaker.

The instant he let go, Taylor was straight down the stairs and out the front door. She made her way along the side of the house and into the back yard. Sitting down on the ground, just under the kitchen window Taylor tried to process what the hell had just happened. She'd made everything worse. Again. The kitchen light was switched on, illuminating a small patch of grass in front of her. Give him a few minutes and Taylor could almost guarantee her father would be in the car, on his way to Emma's house, where he wouldn't find her, but he would find Jason. There was nothing else for it. She was gonna have to go back inside, before she landed Jason in trouble too. Standing up, Taylor peered in through the window. Her dad was trying to put his belt and shoes on at the same time. It wasn't working, and under any other circumstances she would have found it funny, but not this time. Not giving herself the chance to change her mind, she knocked on the back door.

Taylor heard the key turn in the lock before the door opened.

She looked up at her father. "I'm sorry, I panicked. "

He nodded in the general direction of the stairs, and Taylor, trying to stay as far away from him as possible, hurried past him and back up to her room.


	8. Chapter 8

******* I do not own NCIS *******

**Chapter 8**

Patricia appeared in Taylor's doorway, wearing a shirt that looked very like one of her dad's. "What's going on?" Noticing Taylor was fully dressed she added, "Why aren't you in bed?"

"Cause I did something dumb."

"Tell me you didn't sneak out Taylor, not after your dad told you what would happen!"

Taylor was just about to answer when she heard a car pulling up outside, and the doors slamming shut. She had a nasty feeling it might be Jason, so went to the window and peeked out. It was. Jason was being led up the path to his house by one of the largest cops Taylor had ever seen. Dropping the curtain she turned quickly to try and distract Patricia from what was going on outside, but it was too late she was standing right beside her.

"Looks like Jason's in more trouble than me, least I didn't get arrested." She offered in an attempt to make what she had done appear not quite so bad.

"AND WHY HELL WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN ARRESTED?" Her father shouted as he stormed into the room.

When Taylor spotted the belt in his hand she edged her way behind Patricia "No reason, I was just sayin."

"You know anything about that?" he nodded towards the window.

"Maybe."

"Well 'maybe' you'd better explain! And come out from there!"

Slipping her hand into Patricia's, she moved out from behind her, not the whole way, but hopefully enough to keep him happy. "Jason was at the party too."

"Oh, so now there was a party?"

"Yeah, but they were all too drunk, and old, so I came home."

"Good decision."

"That mean you're not gonna spank me?"

He shook his head. "Still happening Taylor. I warned you what would happen if you snuck out again, but you did it anyway. You've only got yourself to blame."

He sat down on the bed. "Now get over here."

When Taylor didn't move Patricia squeezed her hand, before guiding her over to stand in front of her father.

"Night Taylor." Giving one last squeeze Patricia let go of her hand, before disappearing into the bedroom directly opposite.

XOXOXOXOXO

Reaching out, Gibbs pulled his daughter close enough to stand between his knees. "Look at me Taylor."

He waited until her already tear filled eyes locked on his before continuing, "What did I tell you I'd do if you snuck out in the middle of the night?"

"Make sure I couldn't sit down for a week." Taylor chewed nervously on her lower lip.

"Do you know what I meant when I said that?"

"That you'd wallop me really hard?"

"No, it means the spanking you're getting tonight isn't going to be the only one this week."

She looked at him in horror, Taylor knew he wasn't just to scare here, just letting her know exactly what she had coming. She was so shocked she didn't even realise he'd unfastened her jeans until she was pulled round to his side and tipped over his lap.

True to form, Taylor immediately began to struggle. Gibbs waited until she realised she wasn't going anywhere. She gave up and looked back at him.

"Give me your hands."

Not having a whole lot of choice Taylor reached back.

"I'm going to assume you know why you're in this position, considering we've had the same discussion so many times before. Hopefully this time I'll get the message through that stubborn head of yours."

"Yeah well I hate to tell you, you're aimin' at the wrong end!"

"You really think a smart mouth's gonna help you right now?" He picked up the belt and doubled it up, before bringing it down on her backside with a loud crack.

XOXOXOXOXO

Patricia lay in bed listening to the smack of the belt, and Taylor's resulting cries. She almost felt sorry for her, until she thought about how dangerous the situation was, that Taylor had placed herself in. After a couple of minutes it stopped, and Patricia let out a sigh of relief. She sat up and waited for Jethro to return.

He finally walked through the door and dropped his belt onto a chair, before sitting down on the bed to take off his shoes.

"I really hate having to do that." He ran his hands over his face, and through his hair before reaching down to his laces.

"I know." Patricia moved closer and rubbed his back in soothing, circular movements. "Do you think she'll listen this time?"

"I hoping that by the end of the week she'll think that slipping out in the middle of the night is never ever going to be worth it, no matter what the reason." Pulling off his jeans he folded them neatly before slipping into bed beside her and switching off the light.

"How's she do it anyway?" Patricia asked as he pulled her closer.

"Turned the power off."

"Oh, she's good!"

"Whatever you do don't tell her that! She's bad enough as it is. I had the alarm fitted as a deterrent, but I think Taylor just considered it a challenge."

"Maybe you should just have opted for more locks."

"I did think of that, but then I figured she'd talk Tony or Ziva into showing her how to pick them, and the thought of Taylor being able to do that doesn't bear thinking about."

Both drifted off to sleep imagining the havoc Taylor would cause if she could get past any door.

XOXOXOXOXO

It was turning into one of those nights were no one was going to get a lot of sleep, a loud rumble of thunder woke up all three. Gibbs rolled over and whispered in Patricia's ear.

"We're going to have company, in five, four, three, two, one."

Taylor flew in through the bedroom door, and stopped at the foot of the bed. She waited for her dad to nod, before scrambling in between the two of them, and burying herself completely under the covers. A few minutes later the lightning lit up the room, closely followed by another peel of thunder.

"Is she okay under there?" Patricia whispered when Taylor didn't move again.

"She's asleep."

"Already?"

He reached over and switched on the bedside lamp, before gently lifting the cover to reveal a sleeping Taylor. "Uh huh."


	9. Chapter 9

******* I do not own NCIS *******

**Chapter 9**

Taylor would have slept all morning given the chance, but Patricia had other ideas. Gibbs had been called into work, so it was just the two of them, and according to Patricia, she had things to do. Not wanting to make a bad situation any worse she reluctantly headed downstairs for her breakfast.

Standing at the counter Taylor ate a banana and watched as Patricia finished off her toast at the table.

"I could just stay here." It was worth a go, even though she wasn't that sore today, sitting in the car wouldn't be very comfortable.

Patricia looked up from the magazine she was reading. "I don't think so."

Standing on the pedal of the bin just a bit too hard Taylor dropped the skin in before whining. "Why not, I just wanna watch TV."

Recognising the warning signs of a potential tantrum, Patricia stood up and handed her the phone. "Call your dad, if he says it's okay, that's fine. If not, we're leaving in ten minutes."

Taylor stared at the phone in her hand as Patricia left the kitchen, then set it down and went to find her coat.

"You're not gonna tell anyone I don't like thunder are you?"

Patricia glanced over to a squirming Taylor in the passenger seat. "No, your secret's safe with me."

"We're not going shopping are we?" Taylor hadn't been back to the store since she'd killed the pasta.

"Later."

"Great. Can't wait."

"If you're looking for sympathy forget it. You deserved everything you got."

Ignoring Patricia's statement and deciding she wasn't going to say anything else, Taylor stared out the window and wondered how Jason and Emma were feeling this morning.

XOXOXOXOXO

When they pulled up outside an unfamiliar building Taylor broke her vow of silence.

"Where're we going?"

"To see my grandmother, she can't get around very well so she gives me a shopping list every Saturday. Just try and behave yourself, okay?"

Taylor nodded, then looked at Patricia "You have a grandmother? She must be really old."

"Thanks Taylor, just make sure you don't tell her that."

Patricia's gran had her own little room in a very long hallway. Taylor hung back as Patricia kissed the tiny woman sitting in the chair by the window.

The woman smiled at her. "This must be Taylor, I've heard all about you, my name's Dorothy."

Taylor glanced at Patricia, wondering what exactly she'd told her.

"Have a seat." She nodded to a chair next to hers. "It's okay, I don't bite."

Relaxing a little, Taylor lifted the puzzle book and pencil from the chair and sat beside her, examining it as Patricia made a list of everything she would have to pick up. The pages just seemed to be boxes filled with a lot of letters and lists of words and she was just trying to figure out what you were supposed to do when she was interrupted.

"Come on, we have to go to the store now."

Dorothy picked up on Taylor's reluctance to go shopping.

"Why don't you leave Taylor here? Give us a chance to get to know one another."

Patricia couldn't really refuse. "You want to wait here?"

Taylor nodded, and handed the book to Dorothy. "What are you supposed to do with this?"

Patricia stopped when she reached the door. "Make sure you stay here Taylor."

"I will." She replied without looking up, attention still on the puzzle.

"You mean to tell me you've never tried a word search before?" Dorothy asked, pretending to be shocked.

"No, is it hard?"

Patricia took one last look at the pair, just hoping that Taylor would still be there when she got back.

Patricia was almost afraid to open the door when she returned, but she needn't have worried. Taylor was lying face down across the bed, chewing the end of a pencil, totally engrossed in a word search. If Patricia thought she was surprised at what was keeping Taylor amused, that was nothing compared to the shock at what her eighty four year old grandmother was doing. She was in a world of her own, earphones on, playing Taylor's psp.

XOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs arrived home when Taylor had just finished her dinner. They were going out to eat later and Taylor was looking forward to Abby coming to stay with her. Since her dad had started dating Patricia she had been spending less and less time at NCIS, so it would be good to catch up. Ruffling her hair, before planting himself in a chair he looked at Patricia.

"She been behaving herself?"

Patricia nodded.

"Good."

"Hey, I am here you know!"

"I know."

"What time's Abby coming?" The words were just out of her mouth when Abby walked in through the front door. Taylor grinned when she saw the game in her hand.

Her dad looked at his watch. "Now. Suppose I'd better get changed then."

Taking the game from Abby, Taylor headed straight for the playstation and fired it up, before trying to find the second controller. With everything set up she waited impatiently on the couch for Abby to come out of the kitchen, where she was talking to Patricia.

Taylor was still waiting when her father reappeared, but instead of going to the kitchen he stopped in front of her. Something in his stance gave her that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she really hated. Her mouth went dry, so she waited for him to speak.

He held his hand out for her to take. "Come on, we have some business to take care of before I leave."

"What business?" Taylor slid her hands under her thighs, making it perfectly clear she wasn't going anywhere.

"I told you last night, one spanking wasn't gonna cover it."

"It covered it just fine! I won't do it again."

"You told me that before. This time I'm going to make sure you don't."

Taylor shook her head. "I won't, you don't need to spank me again."

He kept his voice low. "Not you call Taylor. You can either get up to your room now or we'll take care of it right here. Take your pick."

"No! I….." That was as far as she got before she found herself hauled to her feet, then down over his knee. "Ok, I'll go!" Taylor tried to push herself up again, but there was no chance.

"Too late, you made your choice." Before she could protest again he brought his hand down on the seat of her pants and after a dozen swats, when the fire was well and truly reignited he stood her back up again. "Seeing you still haven't got the hang of doing as you're told, you can just go and put your pyjamas on and get into bed."

Taylor almost started to argue, but when she looked into his eyes she realised he was in no mood for her to push him any further. Without saying a word she turned and went up to bed.

After a while she heard her father and Patricia leave, then silence. When Taylor looked at the clock, she almost started to cry again. It was only seven thirty, there was no way she could sleep yet, and all she could think about now, was how the rest of the week was gonna go. The next time her dad threatened that she wouldn't be able to sit for a week Taylor was going to believe him.

There was a strange 'thump' outside her bedroom door, just before it swung open. Abby stood there grinning, portable TV at her feet, playstation under her arm.

"Wanna game? Your dad just said you had to stay in bed, he didn't say you had to sleep."

Taylor nodded. Abby was awesome.


	10. Chapter 10

******* I do not own NCIS *******

**Chapter 10**

Abby's phone rang at nine thirty exactly.

"Video game stops now Abby, let her get some sleep."

Abby spun round on the bed, expecting to see Gibbs in the doorway. He wasn't there."

"What do you mean……"

"Abby, don't even think of telling me you two aren't playing that game of yours in Taylor's room!"

"Okay bossman, switching it off now." Yet again Abby wondered how the hell he was able to do that.

"That's better. We'll be back in a couple of hours, behave yourself." He hung up.

The following night Taylor knew exactly what to expect. She went to bed early in an attempt to avoid her father. Didn't work, he was waiting for her when she emerged from her bathroom after brushing her teeth.. Still got her twelve swats. As Taylor lay in bed she realised more drastic measures were called for.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Monday afternoon and Taylor still hadn't resigned herself to the fact there was no escaping her punishment. As soon as she got home from school she raided the kitchen before taking the portable TV from her dad's room and retreating to her own bedroom. There were no locks on her door, but a triangular block of wood she'd found, jammed the door firmly closed. Taylor sat smugly on the bed, munching on potato chips and watching TV. She wasn't moving until he backed down. It was a matter of principal. Ignoring Patricia's calls for dinner, and her attempts to enter the room, Taylor turned up the volume and lay back on the bed feeling pretty optimistic.

Not surprisingly it didn't take her dad long to make his way upstairs when Patricia filled him in on what was going on. Taylor watched the handle jiggle up and down before he banged loudly on the door.

"Open the door Taylor."

She hit the mute button. "I'm not comin' out if you're gonna spank me again."

"That's not up for negotiation, now open it!"

"No."

He changed tack. "You're gonna get hungry."

"Don't worry about that, I have plenty of food in here."

"You've got five minutes to open this door, before I take it off it's hinges, and you really don't want me to do that. Do you understand?"

Taylor grinned to herself. "Nice try dad, the hinges are on the inside. Come back when you're ready to talk." Not giving him the chance to reply she hit the mute button again, filling the room with canned laughter from a sitcom. It was probably better that she didn't hear what he said next anyway. When he didn't leave immediately, instead trying to force the door open, Taylor decided the wedge looked kinda small, so just in case, she pushed the bed in front of the door too. Taylor was just beginning to get into the comedy when the screen went black and the lights went out, leaving her in the dark. He'd turned her power off. Damn it, she hadn't thought of that. Now what the hell was she gonna do to keep herself occupied? Still determined not to give up Taylor sat on the bed and huffed.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

By eight thirty she was bored, really, really bored. Her dad hadn't even tried to talk to her again, this was not going to plan. He wasn't going to change his mind, he was only gonna get madder. She pushed the bed back into position and knelt down to remove the makeshift door stop. It wouldn't budge. Taylor did the only thing she could, bang on the door.

"Dad!"

He replied from the bottom of the stairs. "If you want to talk you can just come down here!"

"I can't, I'm stuck!"

"What do you mean you're stuck?"

Taylor could tell he was just outside the door now. "I can't get the bit of wood out."

"Damn it Taylor!" He was silent for a moment. "Go open your window."

The TV came to life again and the room lit up. Taylor waited by the window and watched as her father placed the ladder against the wall before climbing up. He was almost high enough to climb in, when she had a sudden change of heart and quickly closed the window.

"Sorry. I've changed my mind, you can go back down again."

Gibbs glared at her through the window.

"If you don't let me in right now, I'm gonna tag on another week."

If Taylor ad learnt anything from the past few days, it was that he didn't bluff, so she slid the window up and took a few steps back. When he climbed in and straightened up she expected him to pounce. Instead, he headed straight to the door and easily removed the wedge.

"It was a peaceful protest, you didn't have to fight dirty!" As far as Taylor was concerned turning the power off was a low down move.

He smirked at her before opening the door. "You think you're the only one who knows where the fuse box is? Your dinner's still there if you want to zap it in the microwave."

She started to walk towards him, then stopped suddenly. Taylor looked at him suspiciously through narrowed eyes. "You gonna smack me when I walk past?"

"No." He stood his ground.

"You sure about that?" Taylor knew he was gonna spank her later anyway, but she wanted to remain unscathed for now, at least that would be a partial victory.

"Uh huh."

Relaxing a bit, she headed through the door. As she passed close to her father he landed an almighty swat to her backside.

Taylor yelped and spun round, hands automatically reaching back to rub the sting out. "That's not fair, you said you weren't gonna do that!"

"Sorry. I changed my mind."


	11. Chapter 11

******* I do not own NCIS *******

**Chapter 11**

After her failed attempt at barricading herself into her room, Taylor had to admit defeat. The weekend couldn't come soon enough, she wanted both her freedom and her butt back. First thing Saturday morning she headed downstairs, skates tucked under her arm. Patricia appeared, just as Taylor had finished eating.

"Are you going skating?" She was searching through her purse.

"Yep. What're you looking for?"

"Car keys."

"Where're you going? Are you going to see Dorothy?"

"Found them! Yes."

She looked at the skates lying on the floor, then at Patricia. "Can I come?"

"Thought you were headed for the skate park?" She was surprised by the request.

Taylor shrugged.

"Okay, but take the skates back up to your room again, before your dad trips over them."

Taylor collided with her dad as she raced out through her door, after safely stowing the roller blades under her bed. He was on his cell, and didn't stop talking as he reached down to help her up off the floor where she'd landed. When she was back on her feet and went to move off again she quickly realised he still had a hold of her shirt, so she had no other choice but to wait until he finished his call.

The phone snapped shut. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Gonna see Dorothy."

"With Patricia?"

"Uh huh. Can you let go of me now?"

"I need to talk to you before you leave." Turning her round he gently pushed her back into the bedroom.

"I didn't do anything!" Taylor racked her memory just in case she'd forgotten anything. Nope, nothing.

"Didn't say you did. I'll be back up in a few minutes."

"Okay." As an after thought she added "Don't let Patricia go without me!" as she sat down on the bed to wait.

Taylor didn't have to wait long for her dad to reappear. He sat beside her.

"I have to go away for a few days, you going to be all right here with Patricia?"

"Sure." She stood up, but he pulled her back down again.

"Not done yet. It goes without saying that I expect you to behave yourself, and do whatever Patricia tells you to, without argument. Understand?"

She nodded.

"Good, because if you don't it'll be Patricia who punishes you, and if you kick off about it, you'll just end up regretting it when I get home."

"Okay dad, I get the message, can I go now?" She stood up again, hoping he was finished.

"Do I get a hug first?" Taylor moved a little closer and wrapped her arms around him. He held her for a moment before kissing her on the cheek and standing up.

"Bye dad. Love ya!" With that Taylor flew out of the door, and down to where Patricia was waiting.

Gibbs watched as his daughter raced out of the door, secretly pleased that for the moment at least, Emma seemed to be on the back burner.

XOXOXOXOXO

Dorothy and Taylor spent the morning playing cards, which ended in Taylor writing out an IOU for $353, and Dorothy promising her that she would be given a chance to win it back the next time she visited. The morning passed quickly, and when Patricia returned from the store, complete with sandwiches for the three of them, Dorothy pulled out a large photo album.

Patricia groaned. "Gran!" Then blushed furiously at some of the pictures Dorothy pointed out to Taylor. She had to admit though, some of them were funny, as were the stories that went with them. By the time they left, Taylor was seeing Patricia in a whole new light. It seemed that Patricia had managed to land herself in trouble quite a few times herself.

Even as they drove home later that afternoon Taylor was still grinning, and figured a little bit of winding up was in order.

Patricia glanced over at her. "What are you smiling at?"

"Dad's gonna love hearing about all the trouble you got into."

"You wouldn't!" She aimed a fake glare at Taylor.

"That depends, can we get pizza tonight?"

"That's blackmail!"

"Yep. Can we?"

"I think I can manage that, how about a DVD to go with it?"

"Okay, I pick the pizza, you can pick the movie."

"You got a deal."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

As they pulled into the drive, Jason and Emma appeared from across the road, wanting to know where she'd been all day.

Taylor shrugged. "Just around."

They were both excited about something, but it was obvious the were waiting for Patricia to get out of earshot before they told her what was going on.

Jason spoke first. "Emma has the mother of all plans." He looked at Emma. "Go on, tell her."

"I will if you shut up and give me a chance!" She glared at him.

"Sorry."

"Well you know we're off school on Friday for that teacher training thing?"

Taylor nodded, not sure where this was going.

"How would you like to spend it somewhere different?"

"Like where?"

"New York."

She stared at Emma in disbelief, like that was really gonna happen. "How the hell are we supposed to do that?"

Emma folded her arms. "Have a little faith, you can do anything if you just put your mind to it."

"My butt has just recovered from the last thing you put your mind to."

Jason interrupted before an argument broke out. "Don't turn chicken on us Taylor, just listen. It really is fool proof."

"Go on then, amaze me." Taylor wasn't exactly optimistic.

"Okay. I can get us return airline tickets to New York, we leave early in the morning, and we're back here, just in time for your curfew. Anybody asks, we're just hangin' out, we just don't say where. I mean, you've never been told you're not allowed to go to New York have you? All you need is ID, you got a passport?"

Taylor didn't answer, she was trying to pick holes in the plan, but couldn't find any. Maybe Emma was better at pulling stuff like this off, and they wouldn't get caught. I mean she got clean away with the superglue thing.

"Well? Are you in or not?" Jason was becoming impatient. He'd expected Taylor to jump at the opportunity.

She looked at Emma, then Jason. "I'm in." Taylor reckoned she could always back out later if she thought of any major flaws, and she really didn't want to be left out.

Patricia reappeared at the front door. "Pizza's getting cold Taylor."

"Comin' now."

Taylor turned back to Emma and Jason. "Gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow." Then headed into the house.

Emma watched as Taylor disappeared inside. "She's not gonna wuss out is she?"

Jason gave her a friendly shove. "Taylor, no way. Just you try and stop her!"


	12. Chapter 12

_******* I do not own NCIS *******_

_**Chapter 12**_

_The next few days passed smoothly for Patricia and Taylor, they already had a routine that they were comfortable with, and Taylor didn't want to end up grounded before Friday. The more Emma bragged about New York, the more Taylor wanted to go, and she'd spent hours on google, searching for places she wanted to visit. Okay, she understood they were only gonna be there for a few hours, but she definitely wanted to see the Empire State Building, that was top of her list, they were bound to have time to do that. All three had raided their savings accounts, passports were found, and Emma had booked the tickets online. Sorted._

_Gibbs arrived home on Thursday night after Taylor had gone to bed. He'd been expecting to come back to a war zone, and was relieved when Patricia told him that his time away had been trouble free. Well, relieved and surprised. Maybe his daughter was actually starting to settle down._

_XOXOXOXOXOXO_

_Taylor was up, showered and dressed by six thirty on Friday morning. As she made her way down the stairs she noticed the coffee aroma coming from the kitchen. 'Crap!' She thought. Her dad was home. Stashing her bag beside the front door, she went in to see him._

"_You're up early."_

"_Don't want to waste a day off school, I'm meeting Jason and Emma."_

"_To do what?"_

_Taylor turned away from him to put some bread into the toaster. She was feeling guilty and didn't want to look at him. "Just gonna hang out." _

_When her toast popped she buttered it before sitting down opposite him._

"_Did you miss me?" he asked as he sipped at his coffee._

"_You were away?" Taylor grinned at him. "Never noticed."_

"_Oh, that's nice!"_

"_Yeah, I missed you."_

"_I hear you and Dorothy have hit it off."_

"_She's nice."_

"_I think Patricia's going to bring her over for dinner on Sunday."_

"_Yeah?"_

_He nodded. "You get on alright with Patricia?"_

"_Uh huh. What? You didn't think we would?"_

"_No, I know you like her, I was just wondering how you manage to get into trouble when I'm here, but not when Patricia's looking after you."_

_"If Patricia's feeling left out I can always fix that."_

"_Don't you dare. I was thinking the opposite."_

"_Sure dad." She rinsed the crumbs off her plate. "Can you let me out now?" Taylor had almost forgotten about the alarm._

_She followed him out to the hall, and waited as he punched in the code. _

"_Are you going to be back for lunch"_

"_Probably not, depends where we decide to go. I should be back by dinner though."_

_Gibbs reached into his pocket for his wallet, and pulled out twenty dollars. "Make sure you eat something, and not just crap."_

"_Okay." She took the money and stuffed it in her pocket before lifting her backpack._

"_See you later."_

_He watched her walk towards the gate._

"_Taylor.."She didn't look back as she finished his sentence. "I know dad, stay out of trouble."_

_XOXOXOXOXOXO_

_For one awful moment Taylor thought they weren't going to be allowed on the plane because they weren't accompanied by an adult, but Emma spun them a story about her dad meeting them off the plane in New York. All three were excited as the plane took off and watched as Washington disappeared below them. They had about an hour and a half now to decide what they wanted to do. Wasting time was not an option, and they wanted to fit in as much as possible before their flight home._

_As soon as the plane touched down Emma assumed command of their little group. She knew exactly what to do, where they were going and how to get there. Taylor and Jason trailed after her, both a bit disorientated by the unfamiliar city. They had finally decided on the Empire State Building and the Bronx Zoo. They had an absolute ball. The view from the top of the Empire State was amazing, and the zoo was something else. Jason had picked it, and it was a lot of fun watching him trying to imitate the animals. When they realised they had a bit of extra time before they had to head back to the airport, Emma suggested going to one of her favourite music stores. It was absolutely enormous, Taylor had never seen so many cds or dvds in one place. _

_Taylor was standing beside Emma as they searched through a row of cds, when she noticed Emma slipping one into her pocket. She stared at her in disbelief._

"_Are you crazy! Put that back!" Taylor whispered to her._

"_Will you relax, they'll never miss it." Emma turned her attention back to the cds._

"_EMMA, PUT IT BACK!" she whispered as loud as she could, without drawing any attention their way._

_Emma fired her a dirty look, but pulled the cd out of her pocket and put it back with the others. "Fine! When did you turn chicken?"_

_Taylor didn't reply, just turned away to check out the row behind them. They continued browsing in silence. Emma angry at Taylor's reaction, and Taylor annoyed that Emma had been willing to steal. The tension broke however when Jason appeared, stack of cds in his hand._

"_Hurry up you two, I have to pay for these, we've got a plane to catch." At least someone was happy._

_The queue was long, so Taylor stayed with Jason to keep him company, while Emma announced she was going to wait outside. Taylor watched in relief as Emma made her way back out to the sidewalk. At least she couldn't steal anything from out there._

_Finally Jason was able to pay, and the two of them walked towards the door to find Emma. As they walked through the door, the security scanners sprang to life, beeping loudly. Taylor froze for a second as she watched Emma turn and run, disappearing quickly into the crowd. Finally realising what was going on she tried to follow Emma's example, but something was holding her back. Turning round she discovered it wasn't a something, but a someone. A security guard to be precise, and Jason was in the same situation beside her. They were going nowhere._


	13. Chapter 13

******* I do not own NCIS *******

**Chapter 13**

Taylor and Jason found themselves being led to a small room, containing only a table and a few chairs. Both were politely asked to hand over their bags to be searched, as if they actually had a choice in the matter, Jason first. When nothing was found, they told him he could leave.

Jason didn't move. "I'm staying with her." He nodded at Taylor.

"Suit yourself." He reached for Taylor's bag.

As soon as the guard pulled the cd from the front pocket of her backpack Taylor recognised it as the one Emma had been trying to steal.

"I didn't put that there! I can't even reach that pocket when I've got the bag on."

The man wasn't interested. "You can explain that to the police."

"What do you mean I have to explain it to the cops? Why can't you just check the surveillance tapes?"

"Not my job. The police will check those after they question you."

"Listen genius, we've got a plane to catch." Taylor was starting to panic.

He smirked at her and shrugged. "Unlucky." Then pointed at the chairs. "Make yourself comfortable, they might take a while getting here." He left, locking the door behind him.

Jason sat down at the table. "What the hell just happened?"

Taylor started to pace. "Emma. I pissed her off when I stopped her stealing that cd earlier. That must be why she wanted to wait outside, and then ran. I'm gonna kill her."

"Do you think you'll live that long? There's no way we're gonna make our flight, and we can't afford new tickets. Not to mention the fact that as soon as the cops get you back to the station they'll call your dad."

The colour drained from Taylor's face. She stopped pacing and sat down opposite Jason. "F***! He's gonna go ballistic!"

Taylor folded her arms on the table, put her head down and tried not to cry.

An hour and a half they had to wait for the police to show up. Emma would be sitting on the plane by now, while they were sitting in the back of a police car. Taylor's emotions swung back and forth, from being angry at being accused of something she would never do, just because Emma had set her up, to abject terror of how her dad was gonna react when he found out he was going to have to pick her up from a police station in New York. Jason was worried too, he was going to be in just as much trouble as Taylor, he just didn't have the temper to match hers.

It wasn't long before they were seated in another interview room. Jason was sticking to her like glue, and still refused to leave. Taylor knew the question was coming because she was aware of the fact they weren't allowed to interview her without an adult present, but when it came she still froze.

Jason nudged her gently. "You have to tell them, there's no other way."

Taylor looked at him, desperate for a way out, but he just nodded.

Taylor lifted the pen from the table and scrawled down her home phone number. There, it was done, and out of her control. Strangely she felt a little better now, her dad would make sure everything was sorted out. All they could do now was wait.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Patricia and Jethro were waiting for Taylor to show up for dinner when the phone rang. Gibbs answered, attention still partially on the news programme he'd been watching.

"Yeah?"

"Mr Gibbs?"

"That's me."

"I'm Officer Jackson, we have your daughter Taylor in custody and we need you to be here when we question her."

Gibbs stood up. "What did she do?" A hundred different ideas flashed through his mind at once.

"Shoplifting."

"My daughter's not a thief." He was relieved now, there must have been a mistake. Taylor pushed a lot of boundaries but that was not one he was worried about.

"Funny, that's what she keeps saying. The security recording should clear everything up, but there's been a bit of a delay getting it here. We still need you here anyway considering the circumstances."

"What circumstances?"

"Well they've both missed their flight home"

"Both? And what flight?" He must have the wrong person.

"She's with a boy, Jason I think, and they missed their flight out of New York."

He was speechless, his brain seemed to short circuit." It was Taylor alright.

"Are you still there?" Officer Jackson thought they'd been cut off.

"Yeah. What the hell were they doing in New York? No never mind. I'll be on the next flight out of DC. Just please, make sure they don't go anywhere until I get there, even after you see the recording." There's no way he wanted those two loose in a city like that.

"You didn't know they were in New York?"

"No, you think I'd let an eleven year old run about New York on her own?"

He heard the police officer talking to someone in the background. Then address him again. "That's okay, I'm a father myself, we'll hold them both until you show up."

Gibbs took down the details of where Taylor was being held, and hung up, before immediately calling the airport. He would just about be able to catch the next flight. He was in the process of booking it when Patricia appeared in the doorway.

"Better make that two seats." He shook his head at her, at least if she was there he might not be quite so tempted to murder his daughter.

Patricia waited until he finished the call for him to explain what was going on.

"Grab your coat, we're going to New York."

She looked at him as if he'd just gone crazy.

"I'll explain in the car, although I'm not entirely sure I know what the hell's going on either."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Officer Jackson had to eventually move Taylor and Jason from the interview room. It was a busy day. Still he had promised to make sure they stayed put. Unfortunately the only place he was able to keep them safely was one of the old holding cells, at the rear of the station. They weren't used any more, but they were quiet and the two kids wouldn't be exposed to some of the nastier elements. He figured it might just teach them a lesson too, although he made frequent checks just to make sure they were okay. He hadn't told Taylor yet that she'd been cleared, just in case she kicked up a fuss about still being locked up. The security footage had now been examined, and it clearly showed another girl slipping the cd into Taylor's backpack. He couldn't understand why the store's security guard hadn't just checked the tape himself. That was one person he was planning on paying a visit to in the not so distant future. He'd wasted a lot people's time, including his.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Jason and Taylor sat side by side on the small bunk, both resigned to the fact they weren't getting out anytime soon. Jason was hoping Taylor would fall asleep. When she wasn't worrying about what her dad was gonna say or do, she was working herself up into one hell of a temper about Emma. She was so angry, at times Jason wouldn't have been surprised if she had enough energy to bend the bars and escape. Thankfully she was quiet now as she leant up against him. He closed his eyes and tried to figure out how they had both completely misread Emma.

Taylor had her eyes closed too. She was tired, it was getting late and it had been a long day. As she tried to make herself relax and maybe get some sleep, Taylor felt someone watching her. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck, but she was afraid to open her eyes to see who it was. Jason however, did not have the good sense to keep his eyes shut, and nudged her. There was nothing else for it she had to look. Her dad was standing on the other side of the bars, and to say he looked furious was definitely an understatement. For the first time that day Taylor was glad the door was locked.


	14. Chapter 14

******* I do not own NCIS *******

**Chapter 14**

No one spoke. Taylor was worried she was going to shrivel up under the heat of his glare. The spell was broken when he stepped aside to allow Officer Jackson to unlock the door. It squeaked as it slid open, and Jason stood up. Taylor stayed exactly where she was.

Officer Jackson hid a smile. "Come on, you've been in there long enough."

"No thanks, just lock it back up. I like it right here." She didn't take her eyes off her father.

Her dad turned to the police officer. "Would you mind taking Jason on out to pick up his stuff?" Then looked back at Taylor before he continued. "I need to have a word with my daughter."

That got her moving. Taylor was outside the cell before Jackson had a chance to reply. There was no way she was gonna stay there alone with her dad, she knew what he had in mind.

"No, you don't have to do that, I've changed my mind I don't like it here after all." She was relieved when her dad seemed satisfied with that and she followed him back out towards the main desk to collect her bag.

Patricia was waiting for them in the lobby, with that expression Taylor hated, the one she had picked up from her dad. Things were just going from bad to worse. This was not going to be good.

The awkward silence continued throughout the taxi ride to the hotel, where Gibbs had booked two adjoining rooms. Just as they made it into one of the rooms, and Taylor expected her father to start yelling, his phone rang. He went through the connecting door to take the call. Letting out a sigh of relief, Taylor sat down and tried to avoid Patricia's condemning look. It didn't work.

"What were you thinking Taylor?" She sat down beside her.

Taylor looked up from the floor. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

"And now?"

"Not so much." She whispered. "I didn't steal anything." Taylor rubbed her eyes, trying to stop the tears that were beginning to fall.

"I know."

"You do?"

"Yes, they watched the tape."

"Well why did they keep us there so long?"

"Your dad wanted you to stay safe. Where else were you going to go?"

Taylor shrugged. "Suppose."

Jason disappeared into the bathroom to give them some space.

"Emma didn't turn out to be such a good friend after all."

Taylor shook her head. "I know, I'm an idiot."

"You're not an id…." She stopped when Gibbs returned, looking agitated.

"Emma didn't go home, she's at a friends apartment. I'm going to pick her up now, so that she can travel back with us." He didn't miss the angry look that flashed across his daughter's face as she stood up to protest.

"There's no way.."

"Hey!" He tapped Taylor under the chin so that she looked up at him. "You're in enough trouble as it is. I don't want you starting any fights, or even thinking about revenge. You are not to lay a finger on her. Do you understand?"

Taylor pulled her head away, and stared at her feet.

"I asked you a question."

Staying silent for as long as she dared, she eventually whispered. "Yes."

"Good." He turned to Patricia.

"I might be a while, I'm gonna swing by the police station with Emma on the way back, so go ahead and order room service. When the two jailbirds have eaten they can go to bed, we can deal with everything else when we get home."

He looked at Taylor again and gave her a final warning. "Behave yourself." Before checking he had his wallet and leaving.

By the time Gibbs returned with a very subdued Emma, Taylor and Jason were both sound asleep in the other room. Leaving Emma with Patricia he went to check on them. Jason was lying sprawled out on his stomach, while Taylor was curled up as close to him as she could get, leaving her side of the bed empty. There was plenty of room for Emma, but he knew his daughter, and Taylor would not react well if she woke up in the morning and found her there. Looked like he'd be sleeping in the chair tonight while Patricia and Emma shared the bed.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor woke up a few hours later, disorientated by the unfamiliar hotel room. When her eyes became accustomed to the darkness she climbed out of bed and made her way into the adjoining room. She spotted her dad in the chair. He looked as if he was sleeping but Taylor knew he wasn't. Padding over to him in her bare feet she climbed onto his lap. She held her breath as she waited to see what he would do, afraid he would just send her straight back to bed because he didn't want her around him anymore. He didn't, so she relaxed a little, leaning in closer and resting her head on his chest.

"Bad dream?" he whispered

"I don't like jail."

"That's good. I don't think you're supposed to."

The pair of them just sat there for a while in silence, until Taylor suddenly stood up.

"I forgot." She disappeared into the other room, returning with a small package. Handing it to him she sat on his knee again. "I got you a present."

"How were you gonna explain this without telling me you had been in New York."

"I didn't think about that."

He carefully unwrapped the tissue paper revealing a little model of the Empire State Building.

"Do you like it?"

"Uh huh." He knew she was smiling, as he kissed the top of her head. "Go on, back to bed, we have an early flight in the morning."

He was not looking forward to tomorrow, it was going to be difficult keeping Taylor and Emma from killing each other.


	15. Chapter 15

******* I do not own NCIS *******

**Chapter 15**

The whole trip home Gibbs tried to keep Taylor within arms reach, just in case his daughter decided to take a swing at Emma. Taylor was just biding her time waiting for an opportunity to present itself.

They were sitting in the airport waiting for their flight, all five of them, lined up in a nice little row. Emma, Patricia, Gibbs, Jason and then finally Taylor. Taylor frustrated with her lack of success in getting Emma alone, unzipped her backpack to find her ipod. It was lying right on top of the three airline tickets, she'd forgotten she had been looking after them. That's why Emma was still here.

Feeling pretty pleased with this new revelation, Taylor lifted them out and waved them at Emma, "Lose something?"

She smiled smugly when Emma glared at her, then quickly lost the smirk when she realised Emma wasn't the only one aiming a glare in her direction. Her dad and Patricia were not impressed. Quickly sliding back in her seat again, she stuffed the tickets back into her bag. At least Jason seemed to appreciate the discovery, he was trying not to laugh.

After a few minutes Emma headed towards the rest room. Taylor watched as the door swung closed behind her. She glanced in her dad's direction. He was hidden behind the newspaper he was reading, legs stretched out in front of him. Taylor recognised her chance, so she stood up quietly and started to walk in the same direction. She didn't get far.

"Take one more step and I'll spank you, right here, right now." His voice was low, but threatening.

Taylor froze and looked back at her father. He was still concealed behind the large sheets of paper.

When she didn't sit back down again he turned the page, keeping his attention focused on the print and added. "I mean it Taylor."

Revenge was gonna be harder than she had originally thought. Pouting, she took her place beside Jason again, sneaking a look along the row at her dad, trying to figure out just how he'd managed to spot her. Emma would just have to wait.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

A few hours later and they were back in D.C.. Emma and Jason had both been safely delivered home, though exactly how safe they were right now, with angry parents was a whole different matter. Taylor appeared to be completely unconcerned as her dad unlocked the front door and she followed him and Patricia inside. Hanging her coat up on an empty hook she headed up the stairs, but stopped halfway when her father spoke.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To my room."

"No you don't. We have a few things to discuss first. Now get down here."

Taylor didn't move. "Like what?"

He looked at her, a look of disbelief on his face. "Like how you ended up in a police cell in New York."

"I was framed, and I didn't do anything wrong." She took another couple of steps.

"Not gonna tell you again."

"Fine!" Turning, Taylor stomped back down the stairs, past both Patricia and her dad, into the living room. Both followed her in. They had already decided to show a united front. It was important, considering the future they were now planning together. Jethro just hoped this whole mess wasn't going to make Patricia change her mind.

Taylor threw herself down on the couch, picked up a cushion, and wrapped her arms around it. "I don't see what the big deal is. I didn't break any of your dumb rules."

Patricia chose a chair a safe distance away, while Gibbs took up his usual position on the coffee table opposite his daughter.

Taylor was so caught up in her self justification she was completely unaware of the fine line she was walking. Her father was trying really hard to keep a hold of his temper, and couldn't believe Taylor thought any of her actions were justified.

He took a deep calming breath. "Where did you get the money to pay for your ticket?"

"Emma booked them on the internet, and I paid her. Don't look at me like that! It was my money!"

"I didn't ask whose money it was, I asked you where you got it, and you better lose that attitude pretty damn quick."

She picked at the cushion, not really wanting to answer.

"WHERE?"

Taylor only answered when he reached towards her. "My savings account."

"Are you allowed to take money out without checking with me first?"

"No."

"Well there's one 'dumb rule' broken so far. When we're done I want your savings book and card. I'll look after it from now on."

When Taylor opened her mouth to object, he stopped her, holding his finger up. "I don't want to hear that it's not fair, because it is."

You could almost see the confidence draining away from Taylor as she realised her dad was going to shoot down any excuses she had managed to come up with. It was one thing convincing herself she was right, but a whole different ball game trying to convince him.

"Why is it important that I have a rough idea where you are?" He asked next.

'Crap' Taylor thought, she'd been ready with a defence of 'You didn't ask me where I was going." He was anticipating what she wanted to say, that was not good.

"I'm waiting Taylor."

She sighed, there was no point pretending she didn't know, and she was trying to make sure he kept that belt of his around his waist. "It's dangerous."

"Why?"

She started to fiddle with the zipper on the cushion. He was not makin' this easy. "Cause if I get into trouble you wouldn't know where to find me."

"Uh huh." He paused. "Still think you did nothing wrong?"

She stayed silent, not wanting to admit defeat.

"Look at me. Do you still think you did nothing wrong?"

Reluctantly she looked up at him. "No."

"You have to start thinking things through Taylor. Just because you want to do something, then figure out how to do it, doesn't mean you should. We've been here before. If you have to hide something from me, then you shouldn't be doing it. Not difficult. Do you understand?"

Taylor nodded.

"Good." He glanced over at Patricia before he pronounced sentence. "You're grounded for the next two weeks. No ipod, no TV, no phone calls, no games, and no computer. Not only here, but at school too. You can spend recess and lunch with Patricia, just to make sure you stay away from Emma. I know you're angry with her, but she had to take full responsibility for stealing last night, and I'm sure her parents aren't going to go easy on her either."

Taylor couldn't say anything, her brain had stopped somewhere around the bit about no TV. What the hell was she gonna do for two whole weeks?

When Taylor didn't object, Gibbs stood up. "Upstairs, I'll be up in a minute."

That snapped her out of it. "You're gonna spank me too?"

He raised an eyebrow at the question. "What do you think?" Then nodded towards the stairs. "Go on, I'm not gonna argue about it."

She mumbled the whole way up the stairs. "Anyone else would think grounding was enough, but oh no, not you, you gotta…" Whatever else she said was cut off by her door slamming.

Unfortunately her little burst of temper disappeared as she waited, taking with it any remaining bravado. Taylor could handle being grounded, she didn't like it, but she'd choose it over the alternative any day. She hated being spanked more than anything else she could think of, and not just because it hurt, she hated the fact she had absolutely no control over it. One of these days, she would have to try and convince her dad that she hated being grounded more, and maybe he would give up on the whole spanking thing.

There wasn't much chance of that happening today she thought, as she checked out the determination in her dad's eyes, when he ordered her to drop her pants. Or when he pulled her across his lap and started swatting her backside. Or even when she didn't care how hard she was crying. Finally she had to admit to herself, the only way she could have avoided being in the position she was in right now, with one hell of a fire raging on her ass, would have been to actually stay out of trouble. Even seeing New York wasn't worth this.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Patricia had been expecting fireworks at school on Monday morning, but Taylor was strangely uninterested in Emma, and didn't protest about the fact she had to stay with her at recess and lunch. Hopefully Taylor was willing to put the whole thing behind her now, and move on.

When Emma returned to class after lunch she was sporting a split lip, and the beginnings of what was going to be an impressive black eye. Patricia called her out of the room to ask her who had hit her, but Emma had no intention of telling anyone what had happened. Taylor had been with her throughout the entire lunch break, so Patricia had to assume Emma had upset someone else.

At the end of the day Jason was waiting for Taylor outside her classroom. Emma was the first one to emerge from the room. From the state of her face he could see that Taylor had done a pretty good job.

Taylor appeared last, and Jason couldn't wait to ask her what had happened.

"You eventually got Emma on her own then?" He whispered. "Aren't you worried about what your dad's gonna do?"

Taylor looked him straight in the eye. "I never touched her."

"You didn't?" That was hard to believe.

"Nope, didn't have to." Taylor shrugged innocently.

Jason thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with any form of explanation. "Okay how'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"You know what I mean. How'd you get Emma?"

Taylor smiled. "I told Ashley who glued her to the chair."

The End


End file.
